Food Engineering Education in Mexico, Central America, and South America J

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Food Engineering Education in Mexico, Central America, and South America J. Welti-Chanes, F. Vergara-Balderas, E. Palou, S. Alzamora, J.M. Aguilera, G.V. Barbosa-Cánovas, M.S. Tapia, and E. Parada-Arias

Geographic, economic, and social situation of the region and its relation with the development of food engineering (FE). ABSTRACT: The teaching of food engineering (FE) in Mexico and Central and South America began more Despite that globalization processes are eliminating borders, making countries than 50 years ago, initially with pro- closer and attempting to put in place a common language for a better understand- ing and solving of problems, at present time, historical, cultural, and economic dif- grams related to Chemical Engi- ferences still persist along with the ignorance of what communities are. For these neering and Chemistry. The first reasons, before discussing the matter of this paper, the regional subject of this dis- cussion is described in terms of its geographic, economic, and social situation. In programs clearly denominated as FE geographic terms, Mexico is part of North-America; Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, emerged during late 1960s and ear- El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama belong to Central-America, while ly 1970s; the support of the Organi- Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile constitute the whole of South- zation of American States (OAS) and America. The problems of North-America (in this case Mexico), Central-America, United Nations (UN) in some cases and South-America are usually different in terms of production, handling, and pres- and the Science and Technology for ervation of foods. The whole region has more than 520 million people, with small countries, such as Belize that has 256 thousand inhabitants, and big, such as Brazil Development Program (CYTED), or Mexico that have about 175 million and 100 million inhabitants, respectively. launched in the early 1980s, stimu- Mexico has been impacted in recent years by the North-America Free Trade Agree- ment (NAFTA), producing a change in food consumption trends by increasing, for lated and strengthened the develop- instance, the overall consumption of refrigerated or frozen foods in Northern and ment of FE. Relevant developments Central Mexico or by strongly assuming the fast food concept. On the other hand, on FE in Latin-America can be food consumption patterns are basically determined by the fresh and local industry markets in Southern Mexico and in the major part of Central-America. On the other traced down to topics such as: eval- hand, South-America is a mixture of habits, traditions and tendencies as far as the uation of physicochemical and consumption of foods is concerned. Thus, Argentina and Chile and, to a lesser ex- transport properties, water activity, tent, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, are important consumers of processed foods produced in those countries or imported from Europe and United States, while the high and intermediate moisture rest of the South-American countries consumes mainly locally produced fresh or foods, food drying, modeling and processed foods. In the short term, the free-trade agreements established in Central and South America will influence the food consumption and industrialization pat- simulation of processes, hurdle terns. technology, minimal processing, and Social and economic differences among the countries in the region are still great, emerging technologies. At present, with lacking social groups and a limited access to a sufficient and balanced feeding along with severe malnutrition problems (caloric, protein, and vitamin and mineral FE Education in Latin-America inter- deficiencies). Malnutrition problems in other sectors of society with adequate pur- acts and coexists with the new par- chasing power are also present in these countries. Foodborne diseases outbreaks adigms related to the design of are still an important problem, needing immediate sanitary solutions. Many countries in the region are important producers of fruits and vegetables, as preservation processes and the de- in the case of Chile, Brazil, Central-American countries, and Mexico. However, in velopment of Biotechnology. most cases, products are exported without transformation to the United States, Eu- rope, and Japan. Other countries such as Argentina and Uruguay are important meat exporters (most of it frozen), and countries from Central-America and Mexico do well in the refrigerated or frozen sea products markets. The food processing industry in the region has grown in recent years, but some countries still tend to pro-

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duce foods (harvest or breed) which do not support the transfor- courses on postharvest physiology and composition and stability mation steps. changes of products of animal products and sea products. Some According to a study presented by Tapia and Welti-Chanes of these courses already included food handling and preservation (1999), out of the 50 more important food and beverage industries principles, as well as unit operations applied to specific processes in the region (based on their sales volume), 42% are located in such as sugar, coffee or oil extractions; heat exchange and flow of Brazil, 9% in Mexico, 6% in Argentina, 5% in Chile, 5% in Co- fluids for milk and juices pasteurization; dehydration of fruits, lombia, 2% in Peru, and 2% in Venezuela. Also, the 3 largest in- meat, and fish; as well as the study of other traditional processes dustries (Brahma, Antartica Paulista, and Femsa de México) pro- to obtain intermediate moisture foods through salting and sugar- duce beer or soft drinks. In fact, out of the 25 greater industries in ing techniques. The compositional characterization of foods be- the region, 10 produce beer and soft drinks, and from the total an- gan in the 1940s with the purpose of knowing the nutritional nual sales of these 25 companies, ($45 billion) 44% come from properties of the products. Studies of microbiological nature came the beer and soft drinks industries. In another study conducted re- on as a way to stabilize foods and avoid foodborne diseases. cently by Bressani (2000), it was demonstrated that 23% of the Biochemical Engineering programs appeared during the late food industry in Central-America is represented by the beer and 1950s and early 1960s. Such programs were a mixture of Biology, soft drinks industry, 19% by the sugar industry, and 17% by coffee Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering programs and generated industry. professionals that did not study in depth any of the mentioned ar- Except for the large transnational companies (Nestlé, Unilever, eas. The specialties in Chemistry and Food Analysis within the Cargill, Parmalat, and so on), and some regional ones, (Bimbo and Chemistry and Pharmacy B.S. programs appeared by those years Gruma in Mexico, Molinos del Río de la Plata in Argentina, too. In the middle 1960s the Biochemical Engineering programs MAVESA-POLAR in Venezuela, and so on), most of the food pro- were restructured by people who studied Food Science and Tech- cessing industry is medium or small sized compared to the size of nology in the United States and Europe, and were reoriented in similar industries in other parts of the world. The mentioned study such way that the first formal courses in Food Processing, Food (Tapia and Welti-Chanes 1999) also showed that research and de- Chemistry, and Food Microbiology appeared. These biochemical velopment performed by most of the big food companies in the engineers were prepared as food technologists, not as engineers, region is modest, generally restricted to change flavors to adapt to because, in order to have special courses related to food, other local tastes, size and package. Most of new products and process- courses on Mathematics and Chemical Engineering Fundamentals es are developed in their headquarters in the United States or Eu- were eliminated. rope. As mentioned before, the first programs formally called Food Therefore, we find a region with very particular problems relat- Engineering emerged in the middle 1960s; the Univ. de Campinas ed to production, preservation, and consumption of foods. This in Brazil and the Univ. de las Américas-Puebla in Mexico are 2 of scenario should, consequently, strongly influence the structure of the pioneer institutions in this field. In the particular case of the study and research programs in Food Engineering. Some opportu- Brazilian institution, the program began in 1969 in the Instituto de nity areas or problems are: Tecnología de Alimentos (ITAL), supported by the local govern- (1) Countries that are great producers and exporters of fresh foods ment of São Paulo. In 1972 such academic program moved to the (2) Most of the countries import basic foods (grains and cereals), Univ. de Campinas (UNICAMP) where the FE Faculty was created. except for countries as Argentina This faculty can be considered as the first great teach and research (3) Countries that import transformed and processed foods, which unit within the food area that operated in Latin America. The UNI- have little commercial exchange within the region CAM program initially operated thanks to the support of the Orga- (4) An important portion of the population of the region risks seri- nization of American States (OAS). The first courses on Transport ous malnutrition Phenomena applied to Foods, Food Physical-Chemistry, Unit Op- (5) Very different Gross National Product (GNP) per capita among erations in Foods, and Design of Food Processing Plants were countries, and thus different purchasing power structured. These courses showed the influence of the professors (6) Post harvest losses and contamination problems of foods (mi- of these programs that obtained their Master and Doctorate de- crobial or toxic products contamination) grees in the United States, Germany, France, and England, and (7) An underdeveloped local food industry transferred the structure and knowledge obtained in those coun- (8) Investigation in universities or research centers not related to tries. As mentioned by Bressani (2000) for the case of the begin- industry problems, not connected with local industries, and/or di- ning of the academic Food Technology programs in Central-Amer- vorced from State policies ica: “the activity was initiated not as a result of a particular interest What should be done then, in teaching and research in this of the food industry existing at the time, but as the need to con- area? Response to this question requires knowing the historical tribute to the solution of a number of problems existing in the evolution and actual status of this area of knowledge within the area, such as the need to add economic value to agricultural Latin-American region. products through industrialization, reduce postharvest losses in a number of foods along the food chain, contribute with the development of high nutritional quality of foods within the reach of low Historical Background, Evolution of income groups and children, eliminate nutritional deficiencies, Teaching, and Research of FE in the and develop locally accepted food presenting convenience to the Region. consumer.” Teaching of Food Science and Technology, in particular Food The interaction among professors and researchers in the region Engineering programs, originated in the late 1960s and early was minimal during the mentioned stage, and even when the 1970s when the first Food Engineering B.S. (Licenciatura) pro- structure of the academic programs is very similar, the collabora- grams began in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. These programs tive work among Latin-American universities and countries was were a mixture of the structures of the European Chemical Engi- done by chance. The most important exception during this period neering programs and Food Engineering programs from the Unit- are the programs of UNICAMP in Brazil, that with the support of ed States. But, before this period and since 1940, food engineer- the OAS and even when living in difficult political situations in ing was indirectly taught in Latin-America within Agriculture, most of the Central and South American countries a scholarship Chemical Science, and Chemical Engineering programs, giving program was maintained to enroll a large number of postgraduate 60 JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION—Vol. 1, 2002

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students from these countries in 2-year training programs. The Table 1—Pre-Competitive Research Projects Conducted in the Sub-Pro- Master and Doctorate programs that appeared in Brazil during the gram “Food Treatment and Conservation” (1984-2001) middle 1970s and early 1980s made some professors of the other Project countries of the region move to Brazil and obtain their degrees nr Project Name there. Then they went back to their countries and influenced the XI.1 Development of Intermediate Moisture Foods on Interest for structure and content of Food Engineering programs based on the Ibero-America Brazilian approach, which is related to the evolution of this area XI.2 Bulk Preservation of Fruits by Combined Methods of knowledge mainly in the United States and to a lesser degree in XI.3 Development of Minimal Processing Technologies for Food Europe. During this period, research groups of institutions such as Preservation the Univ. de Buenos Aires and of the Pontificia Univ. Católica de XI.4 Development and Application of Parameters of Sensory Evaluation of Foods Chile consolidated working mainly in projects related to food de- XI.5 Effect of the Conditions of Process and Storage on the Physical hydration and water activity concepts. In the same way, 2 research Properties of Foods centers, ITAL and the Instituto de Nutrición de Centro América y XI.6 Obtaining and Characterization of Dietary Fiber for their Panamá (INCAP), were supported in great extent since their cre- Application in Foods for Special Regimens ation by the United Nations Developing Program (UNDP). Their XI.7 Impact of the Migration of Components and Residues in Food contributions encouraged the advance of the Food Science and Packages XI.8 Obtaining and Characterization of Carbohydrates for Application Technology in the region. In the particular case of ITAL, the re- in Foods for Special Regimens search works on water activity, sorption isotherms of different XI.9 Obtaining and Characterization of Proteins for Application in foods, and the developments regarding thermal treatment, which Foods for Special Regimens generated some of the first publications on FE in Latin America, XI.10 Development of Technologies for the Physical Treatment of are outstanding. Quarantine of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits During the 1980s, and under a political environment markedly XI.11 Development of Evaluation Tools for Food Engineering XI.12 Methods of Prediction of Physical Properties of Foods stable within the region, the cooperative actions of the Science XI.13 Structure-properties relation in dehydration and storage of dried and Technology for Development Program (CYTED), through the foods Subprogram “Food Treatment and Preservation”, began to impact XI.14 Development of technologies to reduce diseases in subtropical the development of academic and research programs. CYTED has fruits had an important effect on the interaction among universities and XI.15 Development of Emerging Technologies Important for Ibero- research centers, and consequently has impacted the structure of America XI.16 Sensory Shelf-Life in Foods academic programs. XI.17 Development of New Compounds of Specific Functionality Treatment and Preservation of Foods, diameter of 16 Sub-Pro- grams established within CYTED, was launched with the clear objective of developing technologies to preserve and enhance the quality of foods and nutrition in the region. Its first project, which Table 2—Thematic networks developed in the CYTED subprogram “Food started in 1984, was Project XI.1 “Development of Intermediate Treatment and Conservation” Moisture Foods Important for Ibero-America.” Some 300 research- Network ers, based at 60 research centers in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, nr Network Name Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Nicaragua, Uruguay, XI.A Post-Harvest Technology of Fruits and Vegetables and Venezuela, took part in this project (Parada-Arias 1995). Over XI.B Physical Properties of Foods Relevant to Industrial Design 4 years, the principles and concepts of water activity manipula- XI.C Foods for Special Regimens tion, as well as other concepts of food preservation, such as hur- XI.D Food Engineering of Foods for the Development of the Regional dle technology, were shared and taught among the research Industry XI.E Food Packaging groups. Besides the important scientific production generated XI.F Sensory Properties of Foods through the project, along with courses, seminars, and scientific XI.G Nutritional and Toxicology Evaluation of Foods exchange, the number of publications related to aw and com- XI.H Sanitary Quality Foods bined methods of preservation increased, not only from the XI.I Fish Products Technologies groups involved in the Project XI.1, but also by a number of groups which indirectly benefited from its actions. During this stage, the contributions of the groups of the Pontificia Univ. Católica de Chile and of the Univ. de Buenos Aires, Argentina, the installed capacity of the fruit processing industries of the re- were very important to support the development of the research gion. One hundred and fourteen investigators from 8 countries groups from other countries. The contribution of the Univ. Politéc- staffed project XI.2. Findings from the study were disseminated in nica de Valencia, Spain, since this project and along the whole 36 papers in scientific peer-reviewed journals; 116 presentations CYTED program, has been very important. at congresses and conferences; 69 undergraduate theses; 18 mas- From its beginning, the subprogram promoted enhancement of ter’s theses; 18 doctoral theses, 12 short courses, and 16 ap- academic programs by strengthening them with important knowl- proaching actions to the productive sector. (Welti-Chanes and Ver- edge-based components that would result in sound and better gara-Balderas 1995). These numbers give some indication of the prepared food technology professionals. This is reflected in the impact of the CYTED Project on academic curricula and research. topical areas the subprogram has addressed from 1984 to 2001 CYTED Project findings strongly influenced the structure and con- (see Table 1 and 2). tents of the academic programs of the participating institutions. In After Project Xl.1 ended in January 1991 and its results were addition, it helped stimulate interest in the region in learning how analyzed, it became clear that continued cooperative research on to apply the basic principles of fruit preservation in a combined bulk fruit preservation using combined methods was needed, giv- methods approach, in order to retard physical, chemical, and mi- ing rise to Project XI.2. This project was headed by the Mexican crobiological deterioration. The intelligent use of preservation fac- groups. The goals of this project, carried out during 1992 and tors, aw, pH, blanching, and controlled levels of antimicrobial 1993, were to reduce postharvest losses, increase the added value agents among others, for obtaining lightly processed fruit products of raw materials, and identify a correct and more efficient use of began to be a common topic in academic programs, theses, meet- Vol. 1, 2002—JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION 61

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ings, seminars, and other activities in the region. Also in this peri- Table 3—Some publications (books and manuals) released from 1984 to 2001 as products of the CYTED subprogram “Food Treatment and od, topics like measurement and prediction of aw, microbial ecol- ogy, structural changes of foods during processing, and micro and Conservation” macroscopic analysis of processes like osmotic dehydration were 1. Ibero-American Institutions and Topics of Investigation in Food incorporated as important components of academic programs. Technology Project XI.3 was conducted from 1995 to 1998 to generate ba- 2. Inventory of Traditional Intermediate Moisture Foods of Ibero- America sic knowledge on the effect of diverse preservation factors on mi- 3. Methodology for Evaluation of Post-Harvest Losses croflora, sensory, physical, chemical, and structural properties, 4. Ibero-American Directory of Researchers in Post-Harvest of Perish and the development of minimal preservation technologies for ob- able Foods taining fresh, shelf-stable, high-moisture foods. Again, the Argen- 5. Memory of the Seminar-Workshop: Link Academia-Private Enterprise tine groups coordinated the work of all the countries participating in the area of Post-Harvest of Perishable Foods in the Ibero-American in the project. The project also explored the application of mini- Context 6. Summary of Publications on Physical Properties of Foods in the mal processing to preserve freshness of conventional foods, like Ibero-American area marmalades. Modified atmospheres, cold storage, aw reduction, 7. Ibero-American Survey of Centers of Investigation in Physical pH control, use of antibrowning preservatives and antimicrobials, Properties of Foods edible films, nonthermal physical processes, mild thermal treat- 8. Physical Properties and Thermal Analysis of Foods ments, and vacuum impregnation were among the technologies 9. Rheological Properties of Elaborated Foods in Cuba 1: Fluids studied. 10. Application of Combined Methods in Food Preservation 11 Proceedings of the Conferences of the 2nd Ibero-American Workshop Projects 5, 11, and 12, among others, had a special impact on of “New Trends in Plastic Containers for Foods” FE development in the region. Project XI.5, called “Effect of the 12. Project XI.2, Bulk Preservation of Fruits by Combined Methods, Conditions of Process and Storage on the Physical Properties of CYTED Foods,” had as objective to standardize and implement methodol- 13. Supplement to the Compendium of Publications on Physical ogies for evaluating physical properties of foods—including ther- Properties of Foods of the Ibero-American Area mal, electric, mechanical, mass transport, rheological, and surface 14. ISOPOW International Symposium on the Properties of Water, PRACTICUM II: Food Preservation by Moisture Control properties, and thermodynamic equilibrium characteristics—as a 15. Guide of Investigators: Ibero-American Network of Physical function of composition and structure, and to determine the rela- Properties of Foods for Industrial Design, RIPFADI tionship between these properties and overall food quality. Anoth- 16. Food Engineering 2000 er important objective was to improve the means for determining 17. Microbial Evaluation by Challenge Testing in Minimal Processed relevant food properties, food structure, and food composition as Foods a function of processing, as well as of time and conditions of stor- 18. Tools of Calculation in Food Engineering Vols. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX age, in order to enhance industrial processes by using physical 19. Topics in Food Technology. Vols.1, 2, 3 properties as quality parameters. The leadership of the Chilean 20. Minimally Processed Fruits and Vegetables. Fundamental Aspects and groups was very important for the development of this project. Applications. “Development of Evaluation Tools for Food Engineering,” 21. Proceedings of the International of Conference on Engineering and Project XI.11, directly relates to the development of human re- Food (ICEF 8), Vols. I, II st sources in the region. The need for knowledgeable professionals 22. Engineering and Food for the 21 Century became more evident during the project. Most countries of the region lack of financial resources to obtain the costly facilities and equipment needed to effectively teach FE, as well as to provide research assistance for industry. However, this problem could be to improve the quality of food products and to better understand addressed with solutions that have already demonstrated their effi- their functional properties and components. Project XI.15, called cacy and viability, such as software that can simulate operations Development of Emerging Technologies Important for Ibero-Amer- and processes. ica, headed by the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Project XI.11 drew participants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, from Venezuela, has the approach that the formation of food pro- Cuba, Spain, Mexico, and Portugal. To date, it has offered 9 work- fessionals must have in the future. The general objective of Project shops on computational tools and has distributed publications XI.15 is to develop selected foods using emerging technologies with free software. More than 90 simulation programs can be ac- (high hydrostatic pressures, ultrasound, electric pulses, ionizing cessed at http://www.upv.es/dtalim/herraweb.htm, covering practi- radiation) and using other assisting preservation factors. cally all the processes and operations addressed in FE courses. Table 3 presents some of the publications (books and manuals) The contribution of the Brazilian and Spanish groups was out- that have come out of the Sub-Program’s 17-year history. Most of standing in this type of project. these materials are used as textbooks or mandatory references in Project XI.12, called “Methods of Prediction of Physical Proper- FE courses throughout Latin-America. It is important to mention ties of Foods”, also reflects increasing use of computational tools that the CYTED research projects cover most of what are consid- in the design of equipment for simulation and optimization of pro- ered “priority topics” for the modern teaching of FE (Singh 1995; cess operations in the food industry. Groups from Portugal partici- Welti-Chanes and Parada-Arias 1997). pated in this project supporting the Latin American groups. Mod- In a similar way, as the support of OAS and of UNDP between els that can predict physical, thermodynamic, and transport prop- the 1960s and the 1970s were, and still are, vital for the develop- erties are needed to develop reliable simulation programs that ment of the FE in Latin America, the Sub-Program CYTED XI has show how conditions of temperature and pressure (among other been an important generator of information and solutions that variables) can affect process operations. For this reason, the objec- have raised the capabilities of Latin-American FE investigators and tive of the project was to compile current methods of prediction academics. Consequently, it has raised the possibilities of regional and development of new methods, and integrate this knowledge food industries to develop their own technological solutions, into computer programs and databases that can be easily access- adapted to their country’s unique conditions, and capable of im- ed by food engineering students and professionals (Welti-Chanes proving the presence of the country in global markets. However, and others 1999). for less industrialized countries, the role of science, technology, Research projects being developed at present time are focused and engineering as instruments of development and performance 62 JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION—Vol. 1, 2002

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are still limited. The most important effect of the subprogram is the Table 4—Number of universities with food engineering programs improvement and strengthening of FE academic programs across Country Number of universities Latin-America. Brazil 30 Mexico 28 Argentina 18 Structure of Food Engineering B.S. Chile 9 (Licenciatura) programs Peru 7 One hundred and fifty FE programs or related programs were Colombia 6 detected in 12 countries of the region. Table 4 presents the distri- Venezuela 5 bution of these FE programs by country, Brazil, Mexico and Ar- Bolivia 4 gentina being those with the greater numbers. The name of the El Salvador 2 Guatemala 1 programs change, some of them being Food Engineering, Food Nicaragua 1 Technology, Food Technology Engineering, Chemical Engineering Uruguay 1 in Food Industries, Food Science and Technology, Chemical Engi- neering in Foods, Biochemical Engineering, and Food Chemistry. The programs have different structures, but are in general 5-year programs with 150 to 160 (U.S.) credits, and, in most cases, they here. require a thesis as final project to obtain the degree of Food Engi- In most cases, the description of the objectives of each program neer. and the graduation profile, together with the structure of the pro- Figure 1 and 2 present the distribution analysis of the programs gram, indicate that, apparently, the Education Standards requisites in each country according to area of knowledge (in terms of the established by IFT are complied with, as well as in some programs percentage of credits of each area). Even when most countries are with those specifically established by Accreditation Board for En- not making efforts to standardize the structure and content of the gineering and Technology (ABET) as Program Outcomes (ABET programs, it gives an idea of the tendencies in structure of the pro- 2001). grams. The areas considered for analysis are: Quantitative (Mathe- Although it is difficult to demonstrate with the brief analysis pre- matics, Statistics, Numerical Methods, Computation, and Physics), sented here that the ABET and IFT criteria are complied by some Chemistry and Biology, Chemical Engineering (Thermodynamics, programs, the best answer is found in the industries and universi- Transport Phenomena, Mass and Energy Balances), Food Science ties that have or have had professionals of the region working with (Food Chemistry, Food Analysis, Food Physical Chemistry, Food them or performing Graduate Studies. In most cases, the profes- Microbiology, Nutrition), Food Processing (Processes and Quality sional background they have received in their countries of origin Control), General Requisites (Languages, General Culture, Admin- has demonstrated that they have been adequately educated and istration), General Laboratories, Food Laboratories, and Food Engi- instructed in FE at equal or higher levels than in any other country neering. around the world. Several programs have the required number of credits, are ori- Anyway, the preliminary analysis of the structure and content of ented to produce sound professionals, and they adequately cover the academic programs shows the need to standardize some fun- the Core Competencies and the Applied Food Science elements of damental elements of the FE academic programs of the region, the Curricular Standards, established by the Institute of Food Tech- taking as model the work of IFT or some attempts already in nologists (IFT) (IFT 2000). However, it is not easy to decide if they progress in Europe. Also, trying to unify efforts, through the estab- comply with the elements established by IFT that are related with lishment of a work group to define the qualitative and quantitative the so-called Success Skills, given the brief analysis presented criteria that every FE program in the world must comply with. It is

Figure 1—Academic credits distribution of Food Engineering programs Figure 2—Academic credits distribution of Food Engineering programs according to area of knowledge in Mexico and Central-America. according to area of knowledge in South-America.

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worthy to mention and to take as a model the Argentine efforts to Table 5—Publications on food science and technology by Latin-Ameri- establish a basic unified criterion for curricular design and the de- cans. nomination of Graduate through the “Interuniversity Association (1998-2001) of the Food Sector” (Asociación Interuniversitaria del Sector Ali- a. By Country Number Percentage (%) mentario). On the other hand, when reviewing the number of students and Argentina 55 34.0 academic programs of B.S. Food Engineering in the last 5 years it Brazil 27 16.7 Chile 6 3.7 is observed in general (as in the case of Chemical Engineering) a Cuba 4 2.5 slight tendency to remain equal or slightly reduce the number of Venezuela 19 11.7 programs and students. However, the Master and Ph. D programs Colombia 1 0.5 present a constant decrease that seems to be related to the grow- México 50 30.9 ing of Biotechnology Master and Ph. D Programs. FE must take Total 162 100 advantage to live together or coexist and include Biotechnology as a priority study area in academic and research programs. In By area of knowledge Number Percentage (%) fact, in a study made by Parada-Arias and Ordorica-Vargas (1997), Engineering/Process 41 26.8 it was demonstrated that, out of 102 Food Science and Technolo- Chemistry/Biochemistry 30 19.6 gy academic programs evaluated in the region, 45% were strongly Microbiology 35 23 related to biotechnology areas such as food biotechnology, envi- Nutrition 7 22.3 Physical Chemistry/ 34 22.3 ronmental biotechnology, and engineering. However, it is impor- Transport Phenomena tant to recognize that in most of the Latin American countries Sensory 6 3.7 there is a lack of research facilities within the M.S. and Ph.D. programs to adequately serve the students enrolled in the programs c. By studied process Number related to FE, even when the faculty is adequately prepared from Concentration/Drying 31 the academic point of view. Thermal Processing 27 Minimal Processing 22 Freezing/Refrigeration 16 Research in Food Science, Technology Extraction 11 and Engineering and Its Relation With Nonthermal Processing 6 Academic Programs Extrusion 5 One of the best ways to know the orientation of the academic Others 4 programs is to know the type of research made at the universities d. By Type of product Number that offer such programs. Table 5 presents an analysis of the publications generated from 1998 to present time by researchers that Fruits, purees and juices 38 work in universities of Latin-America. The analysis was made Cereals 17 based on the information of the journals in which it is considered Nuts and grains 15 Milk Products 12 that the work of researchers from the region is published: Journal Vegetables 10 of Food Science, Journal of Food Engineering, International Jour- Fish Products 9 nal of Food Science and Technology, Journal of Food Process and Meat Products 8 Preservation, Food Science and Technology International, Journal Others 13 of Food Process Engineering, Journal of Food Protection, and Jour- nal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. It can be seen that 4 countries have the greater number of studies published by their researchers (as a function of the size of the country): Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela. The remain- ing countries practically do not appear, which indicates that their ed by globalization are also opportunity areas. For these reasons, academic programs continue being fundamentally oriented to the future actions must be oriented to: transfer of knowledge and not to the creation of knowledge, or (1) Generate regional work groups to orient the academic pro- that their research work is so specialized that it is published in grams according to the present tendencies of knowledge, the re- other type of journals, as can be the case of the research groups of quirements of the region and criteria internationally established, Chile. It can also be observed that several research works are following an evaluation-certification process like those estab- made on Engineering, Processes, and related areas (Transport Phe- lished by IFT or ABET. nomena and Physical-Chemistry). It stands out that, according to (2) Integrate the work done in other organisms and institutions the type of processes studied, not only traditional processes ap- of other regions of the world to promote a common language in pear, but there is an important approach to the development of the generation of universally high-quality Food Engineers. minimally processed foods and use of the so-called emerging (3) Promote multi-institutional academic programs among dif- technologies. Most of the studies are carried out on fruits and veg- ferent countries, using as model the CYTED’s research collabora- etables, which reflects the importance of this type of foods in tion, looking for the support of OAS and UNDP, employing ad- terms of the regional production. vanced communication media to offer courses at distance, and making possible the mobility of students among countries and institutions. Future of FE in the region (4) Relate in a greater extent the structure of the academic pro- It is evident that food science and technology is still an oppor- grams and research, to programs and activities of the food indus- tunity area to support the development of the region, as are try of the region, to existing problems due to the marked socio- changes occurring in the consumption patterns, food production economic differences, to government policies, and so on. (transgenic foods for example), way to access information (avail- (5) Use the developments of biotechnology as a support for the able technologies for learning), as well as the challenges present- advance of FE

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(6) Orient the actions of the Food Engineers regarding their aca- Welti-Chanes J, Vergara-Balderas F. 1995. Fruit Preservation by Combined Methods: An Ibero American Research Project. In: Barbosa-Cánovas GV, demic background and work to the Paradigm for Product/Process Welti-Chanes J, editors. Food Preservation by Moisture Control. Fundamen- Development in the 21st Century (Karel 1997). tals and Applications. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: USA Technomic Pub. Co., Inc. p 449-42. Welti-Chanes J, Parada-Arias E. 1997. Past, Present and Future of Food Engi- neering in Mexico. In: Barbosa-Cánovas GV, Lombardo S, Narsimhan G, References Okos MR, editors. CoFE 97 New Frontiers in Food Engineering, Proceedings ABET. 2001-02. Engineering Criteria. Accreditation board for Engineering and of the 5th Conference of Food Enginering. New York: AIChE, p. 445-449. Technology. Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs. http://www.abet. Welti-Chanes J, Parada-Arias E, Tapia MS. 1999. Impact of CYTED Program on org/criteria.html. Accessed Jan 20, 2001. the Development of Teaching of Food Engineering in Latin-America. In: Bar- Bressani R. 2000. Food Science and Technology in Central America up to bosa-Cánovas GV, Lombardo SP, editors. Proceedings of the 6th Conference 2000. The Word of Food Science-An Online Food Science and Technology of Food Engineering (CoFE 99). New York: AIChE. p. 729-733. Magazine. 2(1). Accessed Jan 12, 2001. MS 20010541 Karel M. 1997. The History and Future of Food Engineering. In: Fito, P, Orte- ga-Rodríguez, E, Barbosa-Cánovas, GV, editors. Food Engineering 2000. This paper was presented at the IFT Annual Meeting , June 23-27, 2001, New Orleans, La., U.S.A. New York, NY: Chapman & Hall, ITP, p 3-22. J. Welti-Chanes, F. Vergara-Balderas, and E. Palou are with the Dept. de Ingeni- IFT Undergraduate Education Standards for Degree in Food Science (Draft). ería Química y Alimentos, Univ. de las Américas-Puebla, Santa Catarina Mártir, 2001. Presented at the IFT Annual Meeting, New Orleans, June 23-227. Cholula, Puebla. 72820, Mexico. S. Alzamora is with the Departamento de In- Parada-Arias E. 1995. Food Technology in CYTED, an Ibero-American R&D dustrias, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Cooperative Program. In: Barbosa-Cánovas GV, Welti-Chanes J, editors. Ciudad Universitaria, 1428 - Capital Federal, Argentina. J. M. Aguilera is with Food Preservation by Moisture Control. Fundamentals and Applications. the Director de Desarrollo, Facultad de Ingeniería, Pontificia Univ. Católica de Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA: Technomic Pub. Co., Inc. p 443-448. Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22, CHILE. G. V. Barbosa-Cánovas is with the Dept. Parada-Arias E, Ordorica-Vargas C. 1997. Human Resources Formation for of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA 99164- Food Technology in Ibero-America. In: Fito P, Ortega-Rodríguez E, Barbosa- 6120. M. S. Tapia is with the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos, Cánovas GV, editors. Food Engineering 2000. New York, NY: Chapman & Facultad de Ciencias, Univ. Central de Venezuela, Calle Suapure, Lomas de Hall, ITP. p 377-402. Bello Monte, P. O. Box 47097, Caracas 1041-A, Venezuela. E. Parada-Arias is Singh RP. 1997. Food Engineering Curricula: North American and Asian Per- with the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Profesional “Adolfo López Ma- spectives. In: Fito P, Ortega-Rodríguez E, Barbosa-Cánovas GV, editors. teos”, Edificio de la Secretaría Técnica, Segundo Piso, Av. Miguel Othón de Food Engineering 2000. New York, NY: Chapman & Hall, ITP. p 367-376. Mendizabal s/n, Col. Residencial La Escalera, México, D.F. 07738, Mexico. Tapia MS, Welti-Chanes J. 1999. Food Technology in Latin America: Issues Direct inquiries to Jorge Welti-Chanes, Dept. de Ingeniería Química y Alimen- and Opportunities. “How the Latin American Food Industry Respond to New tos, Univ. de las Américas-Puebla, México, e-mail: [email protected] Trends in Food Technology.” Presented at the IFT Annual Meeting. Chicago, July 24-28. IFT Technical Program Book of Abstracts. p 193.

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